A Trumpeter Swan's Rhyme

High over the mountains we like to fly,

and spy on you with our very sharp eyes.

We like to swim in deep rivers,

our appearance will make you quiver.

In the 20th century you tried to hunt us,

but you ran away we made such a fuss.

On sandy river banks we like to preen.

That's why you always see us so clean.

On small islands we like to nest,

perfect for a long month's rest.

In soft nests we lay our eggs,

in hope that little cygnets will hatch, 

grey down, orange beak and legs

Foxes prowl along the bank.

If they get to close we'll give 'em a spank!

If a water snake gets to close, our neck, as long as a hose,

will stick out and bite that sly snakes snout.

He'll start to pout. That snake's crying just 'bout.

At the bottom of deep rivers we find green plants,

when we eat 'em they'll make us dance!

This has been a Trumpeter Swan talking you see,

I have to leave. I have a busy day ahead of me.

 

      

    

Three Owners, One Bird

This story starts out with the Chupps getting a Cockatiel. They named him Buddy. But it wasn't till after they got Buddy that they realized that Mr. Chupp was allergic to him. They would have to give Buddy away. So They decided to ask us. Of course, since I loved birds, I was happy to take Buddy in! My parents thought about it for a while, and finally said, "Yes!" So the Chupps took the cage over to our house with Buddy in it. They told us every thing we needed to know about Buddy and left. We had a great time with Buddy.

                                                           We fed him,

                                                        played with him,

                                                        and slept with him!

          But we couldn't keep him forever because we had to pay $500 every time we brought a pet into our house. Thankfully our landlord told us we could keep him for a little while.
         "By Buddy!" We all said when Buddy's new owners were driving away. They seemed like good ones. What an adventure buddy had.



                                                                     

Ducks I Will Never Forget

In may of 2010, we hatched our own ducklings!
         We bought the eggs from Aloha Feed Store in Oregon. Then we got an incubator to put them in. They stayed in their eggs for about 21 days. But one day, we were coming home from somewhere. As we walked through the door we heard a peeping noise. We looked in the incubator and there was a little baby duckling all wet with a broken egg next to it. It was black with a little patch of yellow on its front. I named this one Oston(As in Boston). It was a female.
         The next duck to come out was a brownish-gold one. Kaiah named this one Sunshine. It was a also female.
         The next two to come out were blueish-grey with a gold patch on their fronts. One came out all tangled up so I named it Tangled. The other one I named Blueberry. They were both males.
          The last one we hatched looked just like Oston except smaller. This one was my favorite. I named it Blackberry. It was a female.

When they were old enough to come out of the incubator, we got a big bin and put sawdust on the bottom. Then we got a water and  food holder for them. After we had those things, we got a heating lamp and put it over the ducks to keep them warm.                                      The ducks ate, drank, played, and slept a lot.

                                   Oston is sharing some food with Sunshine

         As the ducks got older and bigger, we decided to give them a pool. After all we needed to give them a pool sometime, 'cause they're ducks!
         They loved their pool. We would put the pool out on our sidewalk, take the ducks out of their bin, and carry them to the pool.

                                                     They were really cute!
                                                           

                                                      We watched them a lot.           

         But all of this fun had to end someday. They were getting so big and stinky that we had to give them away. My grandparents offered to take care of them because they had lots of land. We agreed. So we loaded all the ducks into the car and left for my grandparent's house. The ducks didn't really like the trip. When they got out of the car they kind of looked a little dizzy. But they were happy to be out of that car.

  First they looked at their surroundings. Then they wandered around. They always stayed as a group.




When we left I was pretty sad. But I knew it wasn't over. Every time I went to my grandparent's house I couldn't wait to see the ducks!

      






                                       







                          

 
                                  

                                                                   

Baby Myna Birds

         In the month of may, two Myna Birds started building a nest in a palm tree right outside our door! We watched this for awhile, and though we didn't notice it for awhile, the mother Myna started laying eggs. It wasn't till a long time that the eggs started to hatch. We knew this because we heard incessant peeping (or chip, chip, chip) coming from the nest.
         As soon as they were strong enough, they started to peek their little heads over the nest to see
 the world.

          Soon, we saw the mother Myna searching for food. She brought back all kinds of stuff like worms, big juicy caterpillars, and some moths. We managed to get a picture of the mother Myna holding two or even three moths in her mouth!

         As the baby Myna Birds got bigger they got hungrier. The mother Myna and the dad Myna were working very hard to meet every need of the little baby Myna Birds ( let me just call the parents, Mom and Dad and the baby bird in the middle of the other two, Chippy, and the one two the right, Brownie, and the one to the left, Chocolate).

In this picture, Chippy, Brownie, and Chocolate are about to get fed. Their saying in a high pitched voice, Chip! Chip! Chip! And occasionally, in a low pitched voice, Squack!

                                          They were definitely growing

      Mom found a big juicy grub for them

Soon the babies got so big that they had to leave the nest. So Mom taught them how to fly. Soon, they could all fly very well.

         One day I was taking out the garbage and I heard a peeping sound coming from a hill. I had been wondering where the babies where. Then I saw them hopping.

 Brownie is growing into a very large, strong Myna Bird. 

         Chocolate is Growing into to a very beautiful Myna Bird.

         And chippy, though he was the runt, has successfully made it to adulthood.

THE END...

...I THOUGHT   

It's been about three-fourths of a year now and I haven't seen Brownie, Chocolate, or Chippy anywhere. Today I saw them. They were all together, chirping happily in a language only myna birds know.

One of the Most Unexpected Things In My Life

I was canoeing down snake river in the Tetons with my brother(Lochlan), my dad, and my friend's dad, Mr. Kile. We kept hearing and seeing things that we wouldn't normally hear or see like beavers slapping their tales on the water, and elk making sounds in the forest next to us. It was evening time and it was getting dark.



         As we rounded a corner, we saw something white floating in the water. We got closer, and closer. We were very close when I finally made it out. It was a Trumpeter Swan! 




(Trumpeter Swans are very big, white birds. They are the heaviest birds native to North America. They were hunted down to nearly extinction in the 19th century and early 20th century.) I couldn't belief my eyes! It is rare for anyone to see a real, wild Trumpeter Swan.
         We decided to follow it! It started swimming. In about 2 minutes cars were lined up on the side of the road taking pictures!
         I'll never forget that day.

          -Mason Benintendi